Gujarat – Eco Niwas Samhita platform G-ENS

Gujarat, formed from 17 northern districts of the former state of Bombay in 1960 is located on the western coast of India. With Gandhinagar being the capital city of Gujarat, it has the longest coastline of 1,600 Km. It also has a mix of different climatic zones and is home to a population of approximately 6.5 crores. The state hosts 33 districts out of which the city of Ahmedabad is the commercial capital of Gujarat. The Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board is responsible for facilities such as roads, ports, railways, power, information infrastructure, urban infrastructure and water supply. Gujarat ranks second after Maharashtra for highest installed electricity generation capacity. The state has also been pro active in their attempts to adopt the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) for non-residential buildings and the Eco Niwas Samhita (ENS) for residential buildings.

The Eco Niwas Samhita (ENS) is the Energy Conservation Building Code for Residential Sector. It is applicable to buildings with a plot area > 500sq.m. It was developed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, with 'Part-1: Building Envelope' being introduced on National Energy Conservation Day in 2018 by the Hon'ble Speaker of Lok Sabha and the Hon'ble Minister of Power, New & Renewable Energy.

The ENS sets minimum building envelope performance standards to reduce heat gains into the building for cooling dominated climatic conditions, ensuring sufficient natural ventilation and day lighting. It has mainly been developed for its adoption into building byelaws by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). It is developed with the intent of promoting design and construction of residential units including apartments and townships to enable occupants to reap the benefits of energy-efficiency and enhanced thermal comfort.

In 2021, ‘Part-2: Electro-Mechanical and Renewable Energy Systems’ was launched. This focusses on Energy Efficiency in Electro-Mechanical Equipment for Building Operation, Renewable Energy Generation, Embodied Energy of Walling Materials and Structural Systems.

ENS is applicable only to plot sizes of greater than 500 sq.m. The code is not applicable to:

• Lodging and rooming houses
• Dormitories
• Hotels